Apparatus and method for controlling platooning of vehicles

1. An apparatus configured for controlling platooning between a leading vehicle and a plurality of following vehicles, the apparatus comprising: a manipulation portion configured to receive an operation command corresponding to a lane change input by a driver during the platooning, wherein the operation command include a first direction command and a second direction command; a detector portion configured to recognize Blind-spot Collision Warning (BCW) information regarding a vehicle; and a controller configured to automatically perform the lane change based on the BCW information when the operation command is received by the manipulation portion and the vehicle is the leading vehicle, wherein, when the vehicle is one of the plurality of following vehicles, the controller identifies a direction command of the operation command that is received by the leading vehicle, identifies a direction command of the operation command that is received by the manipulation portion, when the two identified direction commands are the same, automatically perform the lane change based on the BCW information, and when the two identified direction commands are the different, manually perform the lane change based on steering information input by the driver.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of following vehicles constructs a CACC (Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control) system-based traveling sequence, and travels a platooning mode in which the plurality of vehicles follows the leading vehicle.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a display configured to display the BCW information of the vehicle and the BCW information of other vehicles performing the platooning.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the manipulation portion turns on or off one of a first turn signal lamp and second turn signal lamp.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to increase a constant distance gap (CDG) when the operation command is received by the manipulation portion.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , the detector further detects an obstacle in front of the vehicle, and the controller identifies a distance to the detected obstacle and controls deceleration or braking based on the identified distance to the obstacle before automatically performing the lane change.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the BCW information is used to detect whether a moving object is present at a rear lateral side of each of the plurality of vehicles.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to perform the lane change, when the moving object is not present at the rear lateral side of each of the plurality of vehicles.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein when the vehicle is one of the plurality of following vehicles and the moving object is present, the controller is configured to switch a mode for the lane change to a manual mode.

10. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein when the vehicle is one of the plurality of following vehicles and the moving object is present, the controller is configured to switch a mode for the lane change to a longitudinal following mode, and wherein the longitudinal following mode automatically controls a constant distance gap (CDG) between the vehicle and the other vehicles, and allows a lateral direction of the platooning to be controlled by the driver.

11. An apparatus configured for controlling platooning between a leading vehicle and a plurality of following vehicles the apparatus comprising: a manipulation portion configured to receive an operation command corresponding to a lane change input by a driver during the platooning, wherein the operation command include a first direction command and a second direction command; a detector portion configured to detect an obstacle in front, rear and side of a vehicle; and a controller configured to, when the vehicle is the leading vehicle, identify a distance to the obstacle detected by the detector portion, determine when control for deceleration or braking is needed, when control for deceleration or braking is not needed, perform a lane change based on information of the obstacle detected by the detector portion, increase a constant distance gap (CDG) with other vehicles and transmit the operation command to the plurality of following vehicles, wherein, when the vehicle is one of the plurality of following vehicles and the operation command is received by the leading vehicle, the controller identifies a direction command of the operation command that is received by the leading vehicle, identifies a direction command of the operation command that is received by the manipulation portion, when the two identified direction commands are the same, automatically perform the lane change based on the BCW information, and when the two identified direction commands are the different, manually perform the lane change based on steering information input by the driver.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the detector portion includes a Blind-spot Collision Warning (BCW) system mounted in the vehicle.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the manipulation portion includes turns on or off one of a first turn signal lamp and a second turn signal lamp.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is the leading vehicle and the operation command is received by the manipulation portion, the controller automatically perform the lane change based on the information of the obstacle.

15. A method for controlling platooning between a leading vehicle and a plurality of following vehicles, the method comprising: determining, by a controller, whether an operation command is received by a manipulation portion; increasing, by the controller, a constant distance gap (CDG) between other vehicles performing the platooning when it is determined that the operation command is received; recognizing, by the controller, Blind-spot Collision Warning (BCW) information regarding each of the plurality of following vehicles and the leading vehicle, when it is determined that the operation command is received; and performing, by the controller, a lane change based on the BCW information, wherein, when the vehicle is one of the plurality of following vehicles, the performing the lane change includes; identifying a direction command of the operation command that is received by the leading vehicle, identifying a direction command of the operation command that is received by the manipulation portion, automatically performing the lane change based on the BCW information, when the two identified direction commands are the same, and manually performing the lane change based on steering information input by the driver, when the two identified direction commands are the different.

16. The method according to claim 15 , further including: when the vehicle is one of the plurality of following vehicles and a presence of the moving object is detected, switching a mode for the lane change to a manual mode.

17. The method according to claim 15 , further including: when the vehicle is one of the plurality of following vehicles and a presence of the moving object is detected, switching a mode for the lane change to a longitudinal following mode, wherein the longitudinal following mode automatically controls a constant distance gap (CDG) between other vehicles and allows a lateral direction of the platooning to be controlled by the driver.

18. The method according to claim 15 , wherein, when the vehicle is the leading vehicle, the performing the lane change, includes: when the operation command is received by the manipulation portion, automatically performing the lane change based on the information of the BCW information.